Automatic Shooting Sequence Controller

ABSTRACT

A voice activated apparatus for automatic sequential launching of clay targets for Skeet, Sporting Clays and Trap shotgun sports. The apparatus first detects a voice command and launches target(s) and then detects the gunshot(s) of the shooter to determine the completion of a segment of the shooting sequence and automatically progress to the next segment for activation upon the next voice command. The apparatus comprising a signal processing unit, designed to analyze spectral patterns and signal levels associated with acoustic signals, in order to distinguish the voice command from ambient and gunshot noise and prevent false activation. By tracking the number of gunshots fired by each shooter, the system determines the end of the shooting sequence and controls the number of clay targets allocated to each shooter.

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/109,106, filed 28-OCT-2008, the contents of which is hereinincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

the present invention relates to a sequence controller for selecting ashooting sequence, automatically controlling the release of targets ateach step during a sequence, monitoring a shooter's progress through thesequence and terminating the sequence after completing all steps.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for controlling the launchingof “clay pigeon” targets, such as from a Skeet, Sporting Clays or Traptarget launchers, by means of detecting the voice command of the shooterand by means for detecting the gunshot sounds that follow the target(s)release.

Traditionally, in shotgun clay shooting sports, clay targets arelaunched from launching machines. To release a target, the shooter callsthe word “pull”. The person activating the target launch is called“puller”. In response to the word “pull”, the puller depresses a switchfor launching the appropriate clay targets according to a predeterminedsequence. The loader may be self loading and self cocking for release ofa target upon receipt of either a mechanical or electrical signal.

The prior art discloses electrical and mechanical controls connected tothe target launcher via cable or via wireless remote control system.Manually operated controls have been used to create a sequence of targetopportunities for a shooter in a recreational or competitiveenvironment. Examples of shooting sports where a target launcher is usedto present a sequence of target opportunities include Skeet, SportingClays, and Trap shooting. In most cases, the shooter issues a command“PULL” to initiate a step in the target launching sequence. The objectis to shoot the targets as they are launched resulting in a scorereflecting the shooter's performance. One method of launching targets isby a manual hand switch such as that used for Skeet target launchers bya human puller which may be a small box with three mechanical momentaryswitches configured so that the switch on the upper left corner is forthe High house launcher, the upper right switch is for the Low houselauncher and the lower center switch is for Doubles (both launcherssimultaneously).

Skeet and Sporting Clays employ at leased two target launchers operatingin sequence that may change for each shooting station. For example inAmerican Skeet, there are 8 stations and two target launchers. Onelauncher is called “High House” and the other called “Low House”. Allthe shooters on a team take turns on each station.

The shooting sequence in American Skeet is shown in table 1:

TABLE 1 Shooting sequence Station number High house Low house Doubles 1,2, 6 & 7 1^(st) “pull” 2^(nd) “pull” 3^(rd) “pull” 3, 4 & 5 1^(st)“pull” 2^(nd) “pull” — 8H 1^(st) “pull” — — 8L 1^(st) “pull” — —

Each shooter is allowed one “Extra” shot called “option” which isusually taken immediately after missing the first target. Occasionally,shooters call “pull” but do not shoot because: the target broke in themachine, they forgot to open the safety of the gun, the ammunition wasfaulty, etc.

Prior art target launching systems such as those described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,359,576 A to Bunner for a VOICE ACTIVATED TARGET LAUNCHING SYSTEMWITH AUTOMATIC SEQUENCING CONTROL, allegedly disclose the use of theaudio frequency of the sound in order to distinguish the voice of theshooter from ambient noise.

Another problem of prior art voice release system is that in order toavoid false release from surrounding noise and specificallyreverberating gunshots from near by fields, they must be set for verylow sensitivity and require prolonged presence of voice before a targetis released. This is because prior art voice release systems employdurational aspects of the signal in order to distinguish voice fromgunshots.

Lowering the sensitivity of voice release system in a Trap station doesnot pose a serious problem because the shooter is always facing themicrophone holding the gun high. However, in order to track the targetsin Skeet and Sporting Clays, the shooter pivots the body such that themicrophone may not be conveniently placed in front of the shooter. Withthe microphone placed further away and possibly on the side or behindthe shooter, greater sensitivity is required.

To overcome the problem of sensitivity, Bunner allegedly discloseswearing the microphone around the neck of the shooter. While thisarrangement may work for a single shooter practicing alone, transferringthe microphone from shooter to shooter is not practical and equippingeach shooter with individual microphone/processor unit is considerablymore expensive and complicated to manage.

For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,981 to Nelsen, FIG. 4 allegedlydisclose those the use of a second microphone located far from theshooter intended to detect the presence of noise and specifically ofgunshots and inhibit the release of a target. The Nielsen patentpurports to use sound duration in order to distinguish between a voicecommand and a gunshot.

A deficiency of prior art voice release systems is false activation bygun shots from near by fields. In a large shooting facility there may beas many as 15 adjacent Trap and Skeet fields or Sporting clays stations.The reverberating echoes from gun shots may take 300 mS for the signalto decay below triggering levels. Therefore, unless set to very lowsensitivity, gunshots may occasionally activate the voice releasesystems with detection based mainly on the duration of the signal.Furthermore, prior art target release systems require manual adjustmentduring the course of a shooting session. Shotgun sports require a highdegree of concentration and shooters are unlikely to accept suchadjustment during a competitive shooting session.

SUMMARY OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a microphone adjacent to the shootingstation to convert sound signals into electric audio signals. The audiosignals from the microphone a fed into a signal conditioning stage foramplification and anti aliasing. The signal from the signal conditioningstage fed into an analyzer to isolate desired audio signals namely, avoice command and a gunshot from ambient noise. The analysis results ofthe analyzer are fed into a sequence controller which contains asequence comprising a number of segments chosen by the user. The userselects from a look-up table that may be used by the controller in orderto identify the segments of a particular desired sequence. Furthermore,each segment may have a unique pattern of target launchers to beactuated.

The analyzer provides voice activated target release with highsensitivity to voice and specifically to the spectral pattern found inthe vowel /u/ as produced in the word “pull”. The present invention hashigh immunity to ambient noise and particularly to gunshot noise. Thepresent invention uses a plurality of states in order to analyze desiredaudio signals. The analyzer monitors audio signals in order to detectthe shooter calling for an initiation of the present segment in thedesired sequence.

A target timeout timer is activated upon the issuance of the command toactivate the target launcher and has a preset duration associated withthe expected period for the target to be available to the shooter. Thetarget timeout timer operates during the period of time when the targetis in flight, visible to the shooter and available to be shot. The timertimes out at about a predetermined time when the target should hit theground if the target is not shot or be out of shooting range. Theanalyzer expects gunshots only during the flight time. Detecting theshooter's gun shot(s) following the “pull” and during the target timeouttime is used by the sequence controller to verify that a target wasreleased and shot at and that the next segment of the sequence can bearmed for the next target(s) release.

A means for counting a number of gunshots detected by an audio analyzeris used to track the number of gunshots fired by each shooter, on eachstation during the shooting session. If the correct number of gunshotsare not fired during each segment of a shooting sequence, because of agun or launcher malfunction the invention automatically reverts to thatsegment in order to allow the shooter to complete the segment.Furthermore, by tracking the number of gunshots fired by each shooter ineach station, the system is able to determine the end of the shootingsequence for each shooter as well as limit the number of targets to themaximum allowed per shooter.

An operator interface is connected to the sequence controller in orderto give a visual indication to the shooter that present shooting segmenthas been completed. The shooter can also select certain adjustments tothe sequence from the operator interface.

The above description sets forth, rather broadly, a summary of oneembodiment of the present invention so that the detailed descriptionthat follows may be better understood and contributions of the presentinvention to the art may be better appreciated. Some of the embodimentsof the present invention may not include all of the features orcharacteristics listed in the above summary. There are, of course,additional features of the invention that will be described below andwill form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, beforeexplaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail,it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details of the construction and to the arrangement ofthe components set forth in the following description or as illustratedin the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and ofbeing practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to beunderstood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are forthe purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a Block diagram of a circuit employing hardware analogcircuitry and low-end micro-controller to detect and distinguish theincoming audio signals

FIGS. 1B, 1C and 1D are detailed schematics illustrating parts of thecircuitry of FIG. 1A

FIG. 2 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 1A

FIG. 3A is a Block diagram of the a preferred embodiment employingdigital signal processing circuitry to detect and distinguish theincoming audio signals

FIG. 3B is a detailed schematics illustrating part of the circuitry ofFIG. 3A

FIG. 4 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 3A

FIGS. 5A-5B are detailed schematic and drawing illustrating the userinterface

FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagrams illustrating the operation of thesequence controller.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart diagrams illustrating the operation of thesession controller.

FIG. 8 is a Block diagram of another embodiment arranged for anautomated “Five-Stand” sporting clays controller.

Table 1. shows American Skeet shooting sequence in each station.

Table 2. shows an example of “Five-Stand” sporting clays shootingsequences

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to a shooting sequence controller generally indicated by thenumeral 18, comprising an analyzer configured to classify incomingacoustic signals into voice commands and a Shooter's gunshotdistinguished from noise, generally indicated by the number 17. Theanalyzer 17 detects audio signals at microphone 1 isolates audiocommands by band pass filter 3, voice peak detector 6 and firstcomparator 10 to provide a signal for analysis with ambient noise signalon noise line 9 at second comparator 11 to identify a voice command fromamong an ambient noise and send a voice command signal on line 12 to aninput on controller 20. Likewise, audio signals are passed on line 13 tohigh pass filter 4 (HPF 4) and noise peak detector 7 for identificationof ambient noise for comparison to audio commands at second comparator11 to eliminate false detections.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1A, the incoming audio signals are picked upby a microphone 1 and amplified by amplifier 2. Amplifier 2 is typicallyan operational amplifier arranged in non-inverting configuration with again between 100 to 200 (40-46 dB). Amplified audio signal 13 fromamplifier 2 is fed in parallel into two active filter blocks band passfilter 3 and high pass filter 4.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1A, band pass filter 3 (BPF 3) may have alow frequency cutoff typically at 400 Hz and a high frequency cutofftypically at 800 Hz. This band covers the spectral range of the firstformant of the vowel /u/ as in the word “pull” for most male and femaletalkers. The second formant having significantly less energy is presentin the range 900 to 1400 Hz. BPF 3 is typically configured of two secondorder multiple feedback band pass (MFBP) filters with Q factors between2 and 3. The first MFBP having a center frequency of approximately 500Hz and the second MFBP having a center frequency of approximately 700Hz. The output of BPF 3 and voice peak detector 8 is termed hereafterthe “voice” channel.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1A, high pass filter 4 is a second orderhigh pass filter (HPF 4) with a cutoff frequency typically at 2400 Hz.This filter attenuates the level of the first formant of the vowel /u/as in the word “pull” by more than 10 times and the second formant ofthis vowel by an average of 4 times. To achieve a more precipitousslope, HPF 4 typically configured as two poles Sallen-Key Chebychevfiler with a ripple of 1-2 dB. The output of HPF 4 and noise peakdetector 7 is termed hereafter the “noise” channel.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1A, the signals from the “voice” channel(outputs of BPF 3) and “noise” channel (output of HPF 4) during theproduction of voice and particularly the vowel /u/ in the word “pull”and during the noise from a gunshot. When the vowel /u/ in the word“pull” is present, the signal level of the “voice” channel will besignificantly higher than the “noise” channel (typically by a factor of10). The noise from a gunshot has a very high crest factor and thereforeafter approximately 10 mS from the actual shot, the noise is spreadrather evenly across the spectrum up to approximately 10 KHz. While BPF3 only passes a small portion of the energy from the gunshot noise inits restricted bandwidth, HPF 4 has a much greater bandwidth and thuspasses more energy from the gunshot noise.

Referring to FIG. 1A, DC signals 8 and 9 from respective voice peakdetector 6 and noise peak detector 7 corresponding “voice” channel and a“noise” channel are fed into first comparator 10 and second comparator11. First comparator 10 detects when the voice signal from peak detector6 is above a preset threshold. second comparator 11 detects when thelevel of voice signal from peak detector 6 is greater than noise signalfrom peak detector 7. When both conditions are simultaneously detected,output signal 12 of second comparator 11 is set to logic high. Adetailed description of first comparator 10 and second comparator 11 isprovided with reference to FIG. 1C.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1A and referring to FIG. 1B, the signals 8,9 from BPF 3 and HPF 4 are respectively fed into two identical precisionAC peak detectors voice peak detector 6 and noise peak detector 7 eachproducing DC voltage proportional to the positive peak of the AC signalsfrom the respective BPF 3 or HPF 4. Voice peak detector 6, which is alsoidentical to noise peak detector 7 may comprise a third comparator 31(such as an LM393 or LM339) arranged in non-inverting mode and aswitching diode 32 are used to precisely track the positive peak of theinput AC signal 5 via feedback to the inverting input. An RC circuit 33comprising a resistor (typically 10K

) and a capacitor (typically 1 uF) removes the AC ripple from outputsignal 8 while maintaining fast response to changes in the positive peaklevel of input signal 5.

Referring to FIG. 1C and continuing to refer to FIG. 1, the schematic ofcomparator block 10. The “voice” channel from peak detector 6 may be fedinto block 10 comprising a comparator 36 (such as in LM393 or LM339)arranged in non-inverting configuration. Potentiometer 37 determines thesensitivity threshold by setting the reference level on the invertinginput of comparator 36. During low level acoustic noise, the signal frompeak detector 6 is below the reference level and the output ofcomparator 36 is logic low (i.e., zero). When the shooter's voice isloud enough, the signal level in the voice channel is above thereference level the output of comparator 36 is logic high (i.e., 1).Likewise block 11 may comprise a comparator 38 (as in LM393 or LM339)configured to distinguish between voice and noise on a relative basis.The “voice” channel from peak detector 6 is also fed into thenon-inverting input of comparator 38 and the “noise” channel from peakdetector 7 is fed into the inverting input of comparator 38. When theshooter calls “pull” the signal level in the voice channel is greaterthan the level in the “noise” channel on line 9 and comparator 38operates as a non-inverting configuration. If during that time, theshooter's voice is loud enough to cause the voice channel to generate asignal on line 8 that crosses the sensitivity threshold set bypotentiometer 37, comparator 36 produces logic high which in turn pullsup the output of comparator 38 setting control signal 12 to logic high.During loud ambient noise or gunshots noise, the signal level in the“noise” channel may be greater than the level in the “voice” channel andthe output of comparator 38 is pulled low (to ground) overriding theoutput of comparator 36 such that control signal 12 is in logic lowstate. Thus is should be apparent that comparators 36 and 38 arearranged in a logic “AND” configuration so that only when the shootervoice contains the spectral energy distribution such as in the /u/ inthe word “pull” and the loudness of the voice is above a presetsensitivity threshold, a voice command is detected. The arrangement ofcomparators 6, 7, 10 and 11 may be implemented with a single devicecomprising four comparators such as National Semiconductors LM339 QuadComparator.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1A, and referring to FIGS. 1D and 2, when avoice command is detected, second comparator 11 produces a logic highlevel on control signal 12 indicating a voice command has been detected.Control signal 12 is fed into a general purpose input of a low costMicro-Controller (MCU) 20. MCU 20 may be set to periodically sample thestate of line 12 or to start periodic sampling only upon interrupt ontransition from low to high state of line 12. Upon detecting atransition from a low to a high state on line 12, MCU 20 resets a SampleCounter 51. Block 52-54 operate in a loop having a preset number ofrepetitions represented by a constant Vt, (typically a value between 4and 10). Block 52 samples the state of line 12 and then introduces aninterval delay Dt (typically 5 mS). During each cycle of the loop block53 evaluates the state of line 12. If any of the samples fails to detecta state of 1 (logic high on line 12), the loop is aborted, the SampleCounter is reset and the loop starts over. Each time line 12 is sampledwith a value of 1, block 55 increases the value of a Sample Counterby 1. Block 54 exits the loop when the value of the Sample Counter isgreater than Vt. By counting Vt consecutive samples, the loop ensuresthat a voice is detected steadily for a period of 20-50 mS to determinethat a valid voice command is present. Once a valid voice command hasbeen detected at line 12, block 56 signals to the sequence controllerblock in MCU 20 to sends a signal on bus 24 which activates theappropriate target launcher 19 and then progress to the next segment ofthe sequence (FIG. 6).

Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1D, shot peak detector 14 and shotcomparator 15 provide detection of the shooter's own gunshot in order toautomatically determine if the current shooting segment has beencompleted. Shot peak detector 14 and shot comparator 15 may receiveaudio signal 13 from amplifier 2 into shot peak detector 14 comprising ahalf wave voltage doubler formed by switching diodes 41 and 42 andrespective capacitors. Due to its non-linear characteristics, shot peakdetector 14 produces very low level DC output for low level input ACsignals and sharply increasing DC output level when the input AC signalis above the diodes threshold (approximately 600 mV). Thus the circuitof shot peak detector 14 will produce very low DC levels for voice,ambient noise or gunshots from other fields. Shot peak detector 14 willproduce significantly higher DC levels for gunshot noise from theshooter's own gun which is relatively close to the microphone producinghigh sound pressure levels in excess of 100 dBSPL. The output of shotpeak detector 14 is termed hereafter the “shot” channel. The DC signalfrom shot peak detector 14 is fed into shot comparator 15 comprising ata non-inverting input of comparator 45. Potentiometer 44 connected tothe inverting input of comparator 45 sets a reference level termed the“shot threshold”. Upon a gunshot from the shooter's gun, the DC levelfrom shot peak detector 14 exceeds the shot threshold and output ofcomparator 45 on signal 16, is set to logic high. For lower levelambient noise the state of signal 16 is logic low.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, block 56 releases a target and engagesthe means for detecting a gunshot. The target release resets the SampleCounter at block 51, starts a time-out timer at block 58 and starts aloop, blocks 59-63, having a preset number of repetitions St, (a valuebetween 3 and 6) to determine if a gunshot followed the release of thetarget. Block 59 samples the sate of signal 16 followed by intervaldelay Dt (typically 5 mS.) During each cycle of the loop the state ofline 16 is evaluated in block 61. If any of the samples fails to detecta state of 1 (logic high) at line 16, the loop is aborted, the SampleCounter is reset (block 51) and the loop starts over. Also, as shown inblock 62, during each cycle of the loop, the value of the time-outperiod is compared with a preset time period TO. The time out period TOrepresent the time it takes the clay target to hit the ground or go outof shooting range. If the timer value exceeds the time-out period, theloop is aborted, block 68 controls the sequence controller causing it torevert to the previous segment and the process starts over from block50. If a shot is not detected within the time-out period, MCU 20 doesnot progress to the next segment and the next time the shooter calls“pull” will release a target from the same target launcher(s) 19 again.As shown in block 61, while the value of the time-out timer is smallerthan the time-out period, each time line 16 is sampled with a value of1, block 55 increases the value of the Sample Counter by 1. Block 63exits the loop when the value of the Sample Counter is greater than St.By counting St consecutive samples, the loop ensures that a very loudsound, corresponding with a gunshot from the shooter's own gun, has beensteadily detected for a period of 15-30 mS. Next, the means for countingshots is used to determine if the current segment should terminate. Theshots counter in block 64 is increased by 1. If the current segmentactivates only one target launcher with a single target, requiring asingle shot, decision block 65 results in false (no) and block 66 resetsthe shot counter and time-out timer and means for terminating thecurrent segment terminates the current segment. The means forincrementing the index increments the index to advance the controller tothe next segment and the process starts over from block 50 waiting toexecute the next segment of the sequence upon the shooter's next “pull”.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, if the current segment is “doubles”,activating two target launchers 19 (FIG. 1A) to launch two targets,which requires two shots, decision block 65 results in true (yes) andthe system goes to block 67 to check if a second shot was fired. If themeans for detecting a gunshot did not detect a second shot then thecontroller assumes a second shot has not been fired and the Samplecounter is reset (51) and the system returns to block 59 to repeat theprocess and wait for a second shot. If a second shot is detected withinthe time-out period, the means for terminating the segment terminatesthe current by going to block 66 and starting over from block 50.Otherwise, if a second shot is not detected and the time out timerelapsed, the loop is aborted, block 68 controls the sequence controllercausing it to revert to the previous segment and the process starts overfrom block 50 without progressing to the next segment of the sequence.If the means for detecting shots does not detect the correct number ofgunshots for the current segment, the means for repeating the currentsegment reverts to waiting for a voice command and indicates to theshooter by the operator interface, that the segment will be repeated.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a second embodiment may comprise detectingincoming acoustic signals at microphone 1 and transmitting audio signalson line 71. Signals on line 71 may be fed into signal conditioning means117. Signal conditioning means may comprise programmable gain amplifier(PGA) 80 at anti-aliasing filter 74 for providing a signal at line 75for input into MCU 70. The amplified audio signal at line 75 may bebiased to ½ the DC supply voltage, and fed into anti-aliasing filter 74without any decoupling. Filter 74 comprises an active low pass filter(LPF) which may be configured as a third or fourth order Sallen-KeyButterworth filter having a cutoff frequency at approximately 3 KHz. Theoutput of LPF 74 is fed directly into an analog input of MCU 70comprising an 8 bit or 10 bit ADC. MCU 70 is set to sample the audiosignal at a sampling rate Fs which is twice the required audiobandwidth. PGA 80 may have two gain values that may be controlled by MCU70 via line 76. Micro-controller 70 may be a low cost 8 bitmicro-controller (such a s Micro-Chip PIC 18 series) also comprising abuilt-in 8 bit or 10 bit Analog to digital converter (ADC). The outputfrom PGA 80 to said ADC is fed via anti-aliasing low pass filter (LPF)74.

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 3A and 3B, one embodiment of a programmablegain and frequency response amplifier such as PGA 80 may be designed toincrease the dynamic range of the system when using a low resolution ADC(i.e., 8 or 10 bit) and prevent signal saturation during very loudsounds such as a gunshot. The circuit of PGA 80 comprises an operationalamplifier 81 (such as Texas Instruments TL-072) arranged in singlesupply non-inverting configuration. A resistor network provides ½ VCC DCbias to the non-inverting input which will be present on the output andused to set the middle of the conversion scale of the ADC. Transistor 86is a switching transistor (such as 2N7002 small signal N-channelMOSFET). The gate of transistor 86 is controlled by line 76 from MCU 70.When line 76 is low, transistor 86 is off and the AC signal gain ofamplifier 81 is a function of the ratio between the feedback resistor 82and resistor 83. When line 76 is high, transistor 86 is on, havinginsignificant resistance, and the AC signal gain of amplifier 81 is afunction of the ratio between the feedback resistor 82 and theresistance of parallel resistors 83 and 85. Since the resistance ofparallel resistors 83 and 85 is significantly lower than the resistanceof resistor 83, when line 76 is set high, the gain is significantlyhigher.

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the values of resistors 82, 83and 85 are selected to provide a low gain of approximately 28 dB (afactor of 25) and a high gain of approximately 40 dB (a gain factor100). The high gain mode is used during detection of voice. The low gainmode is used during the detection of a shot to prevent signalsaturation. The values of capacitors 84 and 87 can be selected toperform a different first order high pass filter cutoff frequency foreach gain mode. Typically, in low gain mode, resistor 83 and capacitor84 are selected to provide a cutoff frequency of 400 Hz and in high gainmode the parallel resistors and capacitor network form a cutofffrequency at approximately 100 Hz. Other methods for implementingsimilar programmable gain and frequency response amplifiers may also beimplemented with similar results.

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 3A and 4, Fs may be set at 6.4 KHzproviding audio bandwidth of up to 3.2 KHz and a sampling period Ts of156 pS. To derive a “Voice” channel and a “Shot” channel, MCU 70performs a simplified and computationally efficient version of theDiscrete Fourier Transform (DFT) algorithm known as 1-bit DFT. Thisalgorithm is known to a person skilled in the art and has been describedin details in professional literature (see Microchip application noteAN257). The 1-bit DFT algorithm is independent of signal intensity andrequires only zero crossing (polarity) of the signal. A square wavecomprising only the most significant bit (MSB) of the ADC result,carrying the polarity information of the digital audio data stream, willbe compared to two reference square wave signals derived for each band(k) from the cosine and sine of each respective data point (npoints/samples). Said reference signals can be stored in pre-calculatedlook up tables. The result of the comparison is 1 for match and −1 formismatch. The results are accumulated in counters. After calculating nsamples, the absolute value of the sum of the counters is directlycorrelated with the energy in the calculated band (k bands). Preferably,in order to produce relatively wide bands, the number of samples (n) pereach analysis frame should be small. At the preferred sampling rate, avalue of n=32 will yield 16 bands (k bands) of 200 Hz each covering theaudio bandwidth of 3.2 KHz. For the “Voice” channel, bands numbers 2, 3and 4 are summed to form a wider band in the range 300 Hz-900 Hz. Forthe “shot” channel bands 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are summed to form a widerband in the range 1.5 KHz-2.4 KHz. Thus only a total of 8 bands may becomputed. Due to the simplicity of this algorithm, the result in eachband represents only the relative spectral distribution of energy not anabsolute value. Each 1-bit DFT analysis frame comprises n digital audiosamples. To obtain an absolute measurement of the signal level, a movingaverage of the peak values is calculated for the n samples in eachframe. The average peak value Pavg is highly correlated with the band(s)having the highest relative energy level. Thus as the end of each framethe system provides a number Pavg corresponding with said average peakvalue, a value Vband corresponding with the sum of relative energies inthe voice channel's bands and a value Sband corresponding with the sumof relative energies in the Shot channel's bands. The duration of eachanalysis frame Wt is: Wt=1/Fs*n. For example, if Fs=6400 Hz and n=32,the duration of each analysis frame is approximately 5 mS (samplingperiod 156 μS×32 samples=4.99 mS).

Continuing to refer to FIG. 4 the analysis and decision processperformed by MCU 70 may start in block 90 by setting the analysis typevariable “WaitVoice=1”, and setting line 76 to logic high (1). When line76 is in high state, PGA 80 is in high gain mode sensitive enough todetect voice. A frame counter is reset to zero in block 91. Dataacquisition of n samples from the ADC is performed in a loop of nrepetitions controlled from block 92 which performs the signalprocessing algorithm. Once the results of the frame are computed, block92 produces the resulting values Pavg, Vband and Sband describedearlier. Since the current analysis type is WaitVoice=1, decision block93 result is true (yes). Decision block 94 checks if the average peakPavg is above the voice sensitivity threshold Vth. If Pavg is smallerthan Vth, the process starts over and the Frame counter is reset inblock 91. If Pavg is greater than Vth, decision block 95 checks if thespectral distribution matches the sound /u/ in the word “pull”. If theVoice band Vband is not greater than the shot band Sband plus a marginconstant Vf (typically an integer having a value between 2*n/3 and n),the process starts over and the Frame counter is reset. Otherwise, ifVband is greater than Sband plus Vf, block 96 increases the framecounter by 1. Decision block 97 checks if the frame counter surpassedthe constant Vt, (typically a value between 4 and 10). The loopcomprising data acquisition, signal processing and decision blocks 94,95 and 97 is repeated until the frame counter is greater than Vt. Whenthe result of block 97 is true, a voice has been steadily detected for aperiod of Vt*Wt (for Wt=5 mS and Vt=7, the period is 35 mS) ensuringthat valid voice command is present. Once a valid voice command has beendetected, block 56 signals the sequence controller block in MCU 70 toactivate the appropriate target launcher(s) by sending signal on bus 24and then progress to the next segment of the sequence.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 4, following the target release, block 99the means for detecting a gun shot is monitored, the target releasecommand may prepare the analyzer for shot analysis. The analysis typevariable is set to “WaitVoice=0”. Line 76 is low (0) to reduce the gainof PGA 80 by approximately 12 dB. A shots counter variable is cleared to0. A time out timer is reset to zero and started. The frame counter isreset to zero in block 91. These settings are followed by another dataacquisition and signal processing frame in block 92. Now thatWaitVoice=0, decision block 93 results in false (no). Decision block 100checks if the Average Peak, Pavg, is above the Shot sensitivitythreshold Sth. If Pavg is smaller than Sth, the process starts over andthe frame counter is reset (block 91). If Pavg is greater than Sth,decision block 101 checks if the spectral distribution matches agunshot. If the Shot band Sband is not greater than the voice band Vbandplus a margin constant Sf, the process starts over and the frame counteris reset. Otherwise, if Sband is greater than Vband plus Sf, block 96increases the frame counter by 1. Also, as shown in block 103, duringeach cycle of the shot detection loop, the value of the time-out timeris compared with a preset time period TO. The time out period TO isusually the time it takes the clay target to hit the ground or go out ofshooting range. If the timer value exceeds the time-out period, the loopis aborted, block 68 signals the sequence controller to revert to theprevious segment and the process starts over from block 90. Thus, if ashot is not detected within the time-out period, MCU 70 does notprogress to the next segment and the next time the shooter calls “pull”will release the same target launcher(s) again. While the time-out timeris smaller than TO, decision block 104 checks if the frame countersurpassed the constant St (preferably a value between 2 and 4). The loopcomprising data acquisition, signal processing and decision blocks isrepeated until the frame counter is greater than St. Thus, when theresult of block 104 is true, a very loud sound has been steadilydetected during St frame periods for a total period of 10-20 mS,ensuring the presence of a gunshot from the shooter's own gun. Now block105 increases the shots counter by 1. If the current segment activatesonly one target launcher, requiring a single shot, decision 106 resultsin false (no) and the process starts over from block 90, waiting toexecute the next segment of the sequence upon the shooter's next “pull”.If the current segment is “doubles”, activating two target launcherswhich require two shots, decision block 106 results in true (yes) andthe system goes to block 109 to check if a second shot was fired. If asecond shot has not been fired the frame counter is reset in block 91and the system returns to block 92 to repeat the process and wait for asecond shot. If a second shot is detected within the time-out period,and the process starts over from block 90, waiting to execute the nextsegment of the sequence upon the shooter's next “pull”. Otherwise, if asecond shot is not detected and the time out timer elapsed, the loop isaborted; block 68 signals the sequence controller to revert to theprevious segment and the process starts over from block 90 withoutprogressing to the next segment of the sequence.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 3A, bus 24 is connect to and controls thetarget launchers. In case of a wired arrangement, bus 24 may comprise acable with several individual lines each controlling a relay whichcontrols the target launcher. In a wireless system, bus 24 by be coupledto the wireless transmitter via encoder or directly via any industrystandard asynchronous or synchronous serial communication interface suchas UART, 1-Wire, 120, SPI, etc. the command data can be configured asrequired by the respective wireless transceiver's communicationsprotocol. The wireless receiver may comprise a decoder for controllingthe target launchers via relays.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B the basic user interface block 23 maycomprise three light emitting diodes (LED) 25, 26 and 27 and momentaryswitches 28 and 29. Each of the LEDs is driven by an NPN transistor. Thebase of the transistor may be controlled by a digital output of the MCU.Momentary switches 28 and 29 may be mechanical, tactile or membraneswitches connected to digital inputs on the MCU. Said inputs areinternally pulled high and a switch when closed pulls the input low. Thethree LEDs 25, 26, 27 may be arranged in a triangular or otherarrangement on the user interface of the present invention. Theintention is to mimic the arrangement of the traditional manual switchin order to visually convey the status of the automated system to theuser. LED 25 is in the upper left corner representing the High Houseswitch, LED 26 is in the upper right corner representing the Low Houseswitch and LED 27 is in the lower center corner representing the Doublesswitch. Momentary switch 28 is marked OPTION or with a symbolrepresenting a step back such as an arrow pointing to the left.Momentary switch 29 is marked STATION or with a symbol such as an arrowpointing to the right and ending with a vertical line. The functions ofthe user interface will be explained in conjunction with the SequenceControl system and with reference to FIG. 6.

Referring to FIGS. 5A-5B and 6, the Sequence Control process configuredfor American Skeet may comprise the steps having a few routines andsub-routines servicing the different shooting sequences in each stationas shown in Table 1. Upon system start, block 121 sets the variable“Station” to an initial value of 1 representing the first station. Block122 goes to block 123 representing a sub-routine “Station_LUT” toretrieve the values for variables termed “step” and “end” for thecurrent station from a look-up table having an index associated with thestation number. At any point in time, the operator (shooter) can pressthe Station switch 29, represented by block 131, to increase the valueof the variable “Station”. As shown in blocks 132 and 133, changes tothe value of “Station” are done in cyclical fashion so that the highestnumber associated with the index for the “Station LUT” is followed thelowest number. After any change in the variable “Station” the variables“step” and “end” are retrieved from the look-up table in block 123. LEDs25, 26 and 27, are assigned the numbers 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Blocks124-130 control the LEDs 25, 26 and 27. For example, in a station wherethe sequence comprises three segments, High house, Low house andDoubles, the variable “end” equals 3, and all three LEDs 25, 26 and 27are turned ON. The LED(s) 25, 26 and/or 27 associated with the nextsegment to launch upon the shooters call “pull”, is blinking. Since theLEDs 25, 26, 27 are arranged in the same layout as traditional skeetpuller's switch box, the LEDs 25, 26, 27 display indicates to theshooter, which switch will be pressed by the “virtual puller” whenhe/she calls “pull”. After loading the appropriate values to thevariables “step” and “end”, block 122 resets a the segment variabletermed “Sequence” to a value of 0.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, the voice/shot detector process describedearlier with reference to is now running in a loop waiting for theshooter to call “pull”. Upon detection of the voice command “pull”,block 56 produces an instruction to launch the next target(s) into block136 which in turn increases the value of the variable “Sequence” by thevalue of the variable “step”. The variable “Sequence” changes incyclical fashion so that the value “end” is followed by the value “step”ensuring that Sequence is always a number between “step” and “end”. Forexample, when the system is initiated, the station is 1 and therefore“step”=1 and “end”=3. The initial value of “Sequence” is 0. Upon thefirst instruction to launch a target, Sequence=Sequence+step=1. Thesecond instruction, Sequence=Sequence+step=2 and the third instruction,Sequence=Sequence+step=3. The next instruction will cause false (no) indecision block 137 resulting in Sequence=step=1. Once the variable“Sequence” is set, decision blocks 139 and 140 determine whichlauncher(s) will release. A Sequence value of 1 will release the Highhouse launcher, a value of 2 will release the Low house launcher, and avalue of 3 will release both launchers simultaneously for Doubles. Thephysical launching of the targets is performed via control bus 24 asdiscussed earlier. At any point in time, the operator (shooter) canpress the Option switch 28 (FIGS. 5A-5B), represented by block 144, andcause the variable “Sequence” to be decreased by the value of thevariable “step”. As shown in blocks 145-147, the changes to “Sequence”are cyclical, ensuring that “Sequence” is always a number between “step”and “end”. Thus by pressing the Option switch, the shooter can repeatthe same segment again for the purpose of the Option shot.

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, the system provides a means forisolating the detection of a gunshot by the use of a timeout timer wherethe means for detecting a gunshot is enabled only during the time thetarget is available to be shot. In case of a shot time-out where thegunshot is not detected after the launch signal to the target launcherand before the target timeout TO expires, a “revert segment” instructionis issued by block 68 as a means to repeat the segment. The “revertsegment” instruction has the same affect on block 145 as a shooter'sOption switch (FIG. 5A, 5B) operation. Thus as discussed earlier, if forany reason, a shot (or two shots in case of doubles) is not fired withinthe time-out period following the target(s) release, the variable“Sequence” is automatically set back one step so that the same segmentwill be activated upon the next “pull”.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-6, The present invention can be used ensure thatonly a preset number of shots per round is permitted. For example, thenominal number of shots per shooter in each round of skeet is 25. Thepresent invention uses a shot counter as a means for terminating theshooting sequence based on the total number of allowed shots being takenduring the sequence. For example, some gun clubs employ automatic targetcounters to ensure that no more than 26-30 clay pigeons are allowed pershooter. However, broken targets, gun malfunctions, etc. may require afew more targets and frequently cause conflicts between the gun club andcustomers. By counting the total number of shots following each targetrelease, in each station, the system provides a means for terminatingeach shooting segment and can monitor the actual activity of eachshooter and automatically terminate the shooting session when theallowable number of shots has been fired. The session control can beused on a per station basis and/or accumulative basis for the entireround. This feature can be used in commercial gun clubs to preventtarget “poaching” while ensuring that malfunctioning of launches andequipment do not compromise the shooter's ability to enjoy a completeround.

Referring to FIG. 7, a session control for a specific station of thepresent invention illustrated as a state machine process 150 for sessioncontrol of a specific station is shown. It should be apparent that thisprocess can be repeated for each station and the total number of shotsaccumulated for each user. At station switch 150 a transition indicatesa new session is to start. Block 152 clears the variables “Shots” and“Options” and next, retrieves a value into variable MAXshot from alook-up table in block 153. The variable MAXshot equals the nominal ofshots per shooter in the current station. At any point the process canbe restarted by activating the Station switch 29 (FIG. 5B) at block 151.Block 69 detects shots and then instructs block 155 to increase thevalue of the variable “Shots” by 1. An option shot may be requested asshown in blocks 154 and 157-159, after shooting at least one shot, thefirst time a shooter requests an Option shot in block 154, the variable“Options” is set to 1 and the variable Option Flag is also set to 1.Following the detection of a shot, the session status is evaluated byblocks 160-164. Decision block 160 checks if an Option has beenrequested. If the Option variable equals 1, once the shooter shot moreshots than the value of MAXshot, the Option variable is cleared in block163 and the session is terminated. Thus an option can be used only once.Block 161 evaluates if the nominal number of shots has been fired. Ifthe nominal number of shots has been fired, block 164 checks if anoption has been used. If the variable Option Flag is set, the optionshot has already been used and the session terminates. If the optionshot has not been used, the system waits for a manual input from theshooter via the Station (block 151) or option Switch (block 154) or viaany other means of user input that indicates if the session shouldterminate or if an option shot is needed. The state machine process 150may be enhanced to accumulate the total number of shots taken in allstations. An extension of the state machine process 150 may include anadministrator input for the number of shooters on the squad which willallow automatic change of stations once all the shooters completed theirsessions in the current station.

Referring to FIG. 8, an alternate embodiment of a sequence controller202 detecting a voice command to launch the target(s) and then detectingthe following gunshot(s) to verify that targets were launched and shotat, can also be used for other shotgun sports such as Sporting clays andTrap. For example, in “Five-Stand” sporting clays, up to five shootersrotate between five stations positioned a few yards from each other.Targets are launched from as many as 12 launching machines 219 a, 219 b,219 c, in accordance with a preset sequence. Each shooter shoots aminimum of five shots from each station. Shooters are allowed two shotsat a single target. The sequence changes from station to station as wellas according to the level ranking of the shooter. An example for afive-Stand shooting sequence for each station and each level ranking ina field with eight (8) target launchers 219 is shown in table 2.

TABLE 2 example of “Five-Stand” sporting clays shooting sequencesStation 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 5 Level 1 5 6 2 1 3 3 47 5 2 1 2 8 6 7 6 3 1 4 8 8 5 4 7 1 Level 2 3 4 2 3 7 6 8 1 4 5 1 5 7 63 7, 2 6, 3 4, 8 1, 5 2, 8 Level 3 1 3 5 7 2 3, 8 1, 5 8, 6 4, 1 7, 2 2,6 4, 7 2, 3 6, 5 4, 8

Continuing to refer to FIG. 8, an automated “Five-Stand” sporting clayscontroller 202 may comprise block 30 as described above with respect toFIG. 3A connected to a multiplexer 190 which has a plurality of inputconnections, each having a microphone 180, 182, 184, 186, 188, connectedvia a respective amplifier 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, connected thereto.Each of the five stations may be substantially similar to the firststation described as having microphone 180 connected to pre-amplifier181 which may be connected to multiplexer 190. The output signals fromall five amplifiers 181, 183, 185, 187, 189 are fed into multiplexer 190which may be similar to Texas Instruments SN74LV4051A-Q1). Multiplexer190 may be controlled by MCU 70 via bus 191. The administrator's userinterface 204 connected to controller 70 which includes a means forentering 206 the number of shooters (an integer between 1 and 5) andtheir respective level ranking (an integer between 1 and 3). The systemstarts from station number 1 and shooter number 1. MCU 70 controlsmultiplexer 190 to route only the input from microphone number 180, onthe first station, via amplifier 181 into programmable amplifier 80located in block 30 as per FIGS. 3A and 3B. The block 30 retrieves thefirst segment for station number 1 from a look-up table containing datasimilar to Table 2 above. The look-up table is accessed via index valuesbased on station number and shooters ranking level. The first shooterscalls “pull” and the first segment is executed by launching the target.For example, according to Table 2, for a level 2 shooter, the block 30is connected to launchers 219 a-c by control bus 224 to send a launchcommand from block 30 on control bus 224 to a selected one or more oflaunchers 206 a-c, which, in the instant case, may release a target fromthird target launcher 219 c. Once the gunshot of the first shooter isdetected, the system moves to the second shooter. MCU 70 controlsmultiplexer 190 to route only the input from microphone 182, on thesecond station, via microphone amplifier 183 into programmable amplifier80. The sequence controller reads the first segment for station number 2in accordance with the shooters ranking level. For example if the secondshooter is level 3, the system will release a target from machine number1. After the last shooter completed the first segment, the system movesback to station number 1 and upon shooter one's “pull”, executes thesecond segment. Continuing with the above example, the system willsimultaneously release two targets from machines numbers 3 and 8. Whenall shooters complete their first sequence, the process is repeated withall shooter rotating to the next station. For example, shooter number 1to station number 2 and shooter number 5 to station number 1. Thisprocess continues until the round is completed and each shooter shot acomplete sequence on each station. At any station, if due to a brokentarget or any other failure, the shooter did not complete the minimumnecessary number of shots, the system does not progress to the nextshooter on the next station and the same station remains active waitingfor the shooter to repeat the same segment again. The entire process isfully automatic and requires no human interference.

It should be apparent that the automatic control of the shooting roundis performed by algorithms predominantly similar to those described inflow charts in FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 7.

The first embodiment of FIGS. 1A-1D describes a variation of theinvention having a signal conditioning means described as analoghardware blocks for spectral and signal level detection in conjunctionwith a micro-controller for controlling the operation of targetlaunchers. The second embodiment of FIG. 3A-3B describes the signalconditioning means described as using analog hardware blocks only forsignal conditioning and a micro-controller 70 for performing allspectral and signal level analysis and for controlling the operation oftarget launchers. It should be apparent that a similar systems can beconstructed using any combinations of analog and/or digital hardwarewith firmware and/or software signal processing algorithms to performessentially the same tasks.

While there may be various methods to detect a voice command or agunshot noise. It should be apparent that the method described hereinfor first detecting a voice command and launching a target(s) and thendetecting the gunshot(s) of the shooter to determine the completion, orfailure to complete, of a shooting segment, are the basic principals ofthe present invention.

A shooting sequence controller 202 comprising a block 30 having anacoustic sensor 180 connected to a signal conditioning means 181 andtransmitted to multiplexer 190 controlled by control 70. The sequenceblock 30 further comprising a connection to multiplexer 190 a controlsignal output 224 connected to a plurality of target launcher 206 a-e. Ashooting sequence comprising a plurality of segments (Table 1) isconfigured in block 30 for access by an indexing pointer to execute eachsegment in a predetermined order. The control signal output 224 may beconfigured to send a target launch command to one or more of thelaunchers 206 a-e depending on the information in the current segmentindicated by the index. Each microphone 180 may be connected to ansignal conditioning means such as amplifier 181 connected to multiplexer190 to generate an audio input to block 30 in response to a detectedacoustic signal. Control signal from controller 70 allows multiplexer190 to select which microphone to monitor for an acoustic signal andlikewise transmit a respective signal to block 30 when receiving theacoustic signal. The block 30 is further adapted to detect a voicecommand or a gunshot by ignoring ambient noise.

The first target launcher 206 a may be connected to the control signaloutput 224, whereby the sequence controller in block 30 receives a voicecommand signal detected by the analyzer and the block 30 thereby sendsthe target launch command by control bus 224 to the first targetlauncher 206 a to launch a first target for the current shooter. Block30 may further comprise a means for isolating the detection of a gunshotonly during a target flight time when the target is in flight andavailable to the shooter as part of the means for ignoring noise. Theblock 30 may also have a means for counting a number of gunshotsdetected by the analyzer for counting the number of shots in the currentsegment and the total number of shots bu the shooter in the shootingsequence. A means for terminating the segment upon receipt of thecorrect number of shots is used by block 30 to end segment, incrementthe index, and prepare block 30 to initiate the next shooting segmentupon the analyzer in block 30 detecting a next voice command. A meansfor repeating the current segment in block 30 may be initiated if thegunshot is not detected by the end of the target flight time. A meansfor terminating the shooting sequence in block 30 based on a number ofshots counted in the shooting sequence causes the system 202 to stop thesequence when the total number of shots allowed or paid for is detected.

The flow charts depicted herein are just examples. There may be manyvariations to these charts or the steps (or operations) describedtherein without departing from the spirit of the invention. Forinstance, the steps may be performed in a differing order, or steps maybe added, deleted or modified. All of these variations are consideredpart of the claimed invention.

While the invention has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. Forexample, certain ranges, limits, settings, and other such parameters maybe modified to further implement the teachings herein. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or substanceto the teachings of the invention without departing from the scopethereof.

1. A shooting sequence controller comprising: a sequence controllercomprising a control signal output, a signal input, the control signaloutput configured to send a target launch command; a microphonegenerating a signal in response to receiving an acoustic signal; asignal conditioning means, the signal conditioning means connected tothe microphone; an analyzer connected to the signal conditioning means,the analyzer adapted to detect a gunshot, the analyzer adapted to detecta voice command, the analyzer configured to ignore ambient noise; and afirst target launcher connected to the control signal output, wherebythe sequence controller receives a voice command signal transmitted bythe analyzer and sends the target launch command to the first targetlauncher to launch a first target.
 2. The invention of claim 1 furthercomprising a shot counter in the sequence controller, the shot countercounting a number of gunshots detected by the analyzer.
 3. The inventionof claim 2, further comprising a target timeout timer in the sequencecontroller, the target timeout timer initiated by the activation of thetarget launcher, the target timeout timer in a target timing state for atarget timeout period, the shot counter counting gunshots detected bythe analyzer, only when the target timeout timer is in the target timingstate.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein the analyzer furthercomprises circuitry to analyze the spectral energy distribution ofincoming audio signals.
 5. The invention of claim 1, further comprisinga plurality of microphones connected to the analyzer.
 6. The inventionof claim 3, further comprising a shooting sequence of a plurality ofshooting segments in the sequence controller, an index in the sequencecontroller to identify a current one of the plurality of shootingsegments, the current one of the plurality of shooting segmentsinitiated by the voice command, a means for terminating the current oneof the plurality of shooting segments.
 7. The invention of claim 6,wherein the sequence controller further comprises a means for repeatingthe current one of the plurality of shooting segments if the gunshot isnot detected during the target timing state.
 8. The invention of claim6, further comprising a second target launcher connected to the controlsignal output, the current one of the plurality of shooting segmentscomprising a launch command selection chosen from the group consistingof: send a launch command to the first target launcher; send a launchcommand to the second target launcher; or send a launch output commandto both target launchers.
 9. The invention of claim 1, furthercomprising a means for terminating the shooting sequence segment and ameans for repeating the shooting sequence segment.
 10. The invention ofclaim 1, further comprising a means for the counting shots.
 11. Theinvention of claim 6, further comprising a means for counting shots inthe shooting sequence by totaling shots in each one of the plurality ofshooting segments.
 12. The invention of claim 11, further comprising ameans for terminating the shooting sequence based on a number of shotscounted in the shooting sequence.
 13. A method of controlling a shootingsequence, not necessarily in the order shown, comprising: providing afirst target launcher, a microphone, an analyzer and a sequencecontroller, the sequence controller connected to the first targetlauncher, the analyzer connected to the sequence controller, theanalyzer connected to the microphone, the sequence controller adapted tosend a launch command to the first target launcher; configuring thesequence controller with a shooting sequence comprising a plurality ofshooting sequence segments; providing an index in the sequencecontroller to identify a current one of the plurality of shootingsequence segments; detecting a voice command at the analyzer; sending acontrol signal to the sequence controller from the analyzer to indicatea detected voice command; initiating a shooting sequence segment;sending the launch command to the first target launcher; detecting agunshot at the analyzer and sending a gunshot command signal to thesequence controller; and incrementing a gunshot counter in the sequencecontroller and advancing the index.
 14. The invention of claim 13,further comprising, after the step of incrementing the gunshot counter,the step of: terminating the shooting sequence segment.
 15. Theinvention of claim 14, further comprising after the step of terminatingthe shooting sequence segment, the step of: terminating the shootingsequence.
 16. The invention of claim 13 further comprising the steps of:starting a target timeout timer; and repeating the current one of aplurality of shooting sequence segments by reverting to the step ofdetecting a voice command if no gunshot is detected.
 17. The inventionclaim 14, further comprising the step of: signaling the next shootingsequence segment to a shooter.
 18. The invention of claim 13, furthercomprising the step of: classifying the audio input signal into a voicecommand or gunshot.
 19. A shooting sequence controller comprising: asequence controller comprising, a control signal output, a controlsignal input, a shooting sequence segment, the control signal outputconfigured to send a target launch command; a microphone; a signalconditioning means, the signal conditioning means connected to themicrophone; an analyzer connected to the signal conditioning means, theanalyzer adapted to detect a gunshot, the analyzer configured totransmit a gunshot control signal to the sequence controller, theanalyzer adapted detect a a voice command, the analyzer configured totransmit a voice command signal to the sequence controller, the analyzerconfigured to ignore ambient noise; a first target launcher connected tothe control signal output; means for counting a number of gunshotsdetected by the analyzer; means for isolating the detection of a gunshotonly during a target flight time; a shooting sequence comprising aplurality of shooting segments in the sequence controller, an index inthe sequence controller to identify a current one of the plurality ofshooting segments, the current one of the plurality of shooting segmentsinitiated by the voice command; a means for terminating the current oneof the plurality of shooting segments: a means for repeating the currentone of the plurality of shooting segments; and a means for terminatingthe shooting sequence.